


Pet Socialization

by Noxnthea



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Millennial Bucky Barnes, Modern Bucky Barnes, POV Bucky Barnes, Pet therapist Clint Barton, There's A Tag For That
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxnthea/pseuds/Noxnthea
Summary: Wherein Bucky decides to take his kitten to a Pet Socialization class.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	Pet Socialization

**Author's Note:**

> Because you can't go wrong with kittens, and Alpine is a perfect specimen.

A chime dinged above Bucky’s head as the doors slid open, a quick breath of cool air sweeping across him as he entered the pet store, Alpine’s carrier clutched tight to his chest. Within, Alpine maintained a solid low grumble, letting her displeasure at the movement and her general location be known to anyone nearby. Ahead lay a shock of colorful dog toys proclaiming that they couldn’t be destroyed. Bucky shook his head at how anyone could possibly want a pet that even had the capability to destroy things with their teeth, then looked around to find someone who worked there. 

Alpine’s travel bag nestled firmly against his chest, Bucky walked over to the cashier. “I’m looking for the pet socialization class?” He asked with an embarrassed smile, feeling awkward. _Goddamn my societal conditioning that makes me feel the need to justify doing the things I want._ “I have my kitten here with me.” 

“I’d hope so,” the cashier chuckled, then bent down to get eye level with the mesh door to Alpine’s carrier. “Well aren’t you just the cutest little kitty that’s ever kittened around? A booga booga booga!” She tapped her fingers against the door, an inane smile lightening her expression as she widened her eyes. 

Bucky’s face contorted into a brief flash of disgust before he schooled himself as the cashier straightened. God, middle-aged women were the worst with their baby voices. Alpine was a fine, distinguished princess of a kitten who didn’t need to be spoken to like a drooling infant. “So, the class?” 

“Aw, I’ll have to say buh-bye to this little cutie for now, won’t I?” She shook her head at the carrier, then looked over Bucky’s shoulder, pointing. “You can head to the back corner there. I think you’re the first to arrive for today’s session.” 

Bucky muttered a quick thank you with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, then spun and headed in the direction she had pointed. If there was one thing that being a millennial made Bucky an expert in, it was faking emotions and respect for people whose basic existence he disagreed with. 

Moving Alpine’s carrier to under his right arm, he glanced down at his Apple watch, which showed that he had a solid 10 minutes before the class started. Probably enough time to make a detour to the cat toys. Then, if Alpine completely hated the class, she would at least have a new toy to play with when they got back to the apartment. 

Bucky’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he slipped it out to see a text from Nat.

[ _why aren’t you at home right now?_ ]

**_[I’m at that pet socialization thing, remember?]_ **

All he got in response was an ellipses, then an eyeroll emoji as a separate text. 

**_[What, do you want Alpine to be poorly socialized? Stunted in her emotional intelligence?]_ **

_[Bucky, your cat lives indoors, without any other animals. It doesn’t matter if she’s well-socialized.]_

Then, a second later, 

_[Also, she’s a cat. She's supposed to be mean and hate everyone.]_ ****

_**[How DARE??]** _Bucky sent back. 

**_[I’m not even going to gratify that with a real response. Besides, there aren’t any other animals now, but what if in the future there is? What if I meet an incredibly beautiful person at your birthday party next week, and they have five cats and Alpine needs to learn how to love them all?]_ **

_[Bold of you to assume I’m friends with anyone who would own five cats.]_

**_[I mean, you could have stopped at “bold of me to assume you were friends with anyone.” ]_ **

_[Cold as ice, Bucky-boy. See if I leave you any leftover chow-mien after that.]_

**_[Noooo, Nat, I love you I love you you’re my best friend and Alpine loves you and plz don’t be cruel.]_ **

**_[Also, save me an eggroll.]_ **

Bucky attached several rainbow emojis to the last message, then found a photo he had saved from Snapchat a while ago, which had been doctored to adorn Nat with a crown and a scepter, with the caption “Queen of my life, benevolent ruler”. He’d sent it to her before, but there was never a wrong time to use it, not really. 

_[Fine, I’ll save you an eggroll. But I might take a bite out of it anyway.]_

Bucky chuckled, then browsed the toys in front of him. There were several that seemed interesting, ranging from classic mice and feather chasers to more modern ones, themed for the season. He leaned closer at one stuffed toy that was catnip-infused, indicating itself somehow to be both a calming presence for cats as well as the perfect temptation during playtime. 

“How about that, Al? You wanna get high after this class? We can see if you’re a chill cat under the influence, or go totally crazy,” he paused, considering, “I think you’d be chill. You’re way too wild the rest of the time.” 

He picked up the stuffy, then turned it over, “Aw, too bad. They say not to give it to cats under a year old. Guess we gotta wait until you’re of age, then.” 

He checked his watch and saw that class was about to start. Putting back the toy, he picked Alpine’s carrier up off the ground, and left the aisle to head towards the back corner. 

When he arrived, he found that there were only two other people in the waist-high pen, and both seemed to be nervous, clutching their respective pets close, one on a leash, and one in a carrier. There was a shivering, whimpering chihuahua that shook and trembled underneath its owner’s chair, clearly lacking any desire to be here. _Bro, I’ve been there_ , Bucky thought. Anxiety is real, man. 

He couldn’t see the other pet, hidden away inside a carrier. There was, however, an unattached pet, a large, fluffy golden retriever that lay against the far wall of the pen, tail slowly wagging, thumping up against the wall.

 _What the fuck?_

Bucky opened the gate to enter the pen, moving across to take a seat in one of the remaining chairs, next to the man with a carrier, eyes on the retriever. “Do you guys know what that dog is doing here? Or like, where his owner is? Or like, why it’s so goddamn huge?” 

The woman with the chihuahua shook her head, saying, “It was here when I got here a few minutes ago, but it hasn’t done anything but lie there.” 

_I repeat, what the fuck?_

Bucky glared at the dog as it tail-thumped back at him, tongue lolling out. “Where’s your irresponsible owner, dog, huh? Should I go tell the front that we’ve got an unaccompanied minor gallivanting in the back? Causing a ruckus? Upsetting the children?” 

He glared a little more, before relenting and turning to look down at Alpine, “I mean, I guess he’s not actually doing anything besides sitting there, is he?” 

Alpine looked back at him through the door and blinked. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Maybe I’ll save my complaints to the management for if he actually moves towards us.” 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” a harried voice interrupted Bucky’s conversation with his cat as a man walked through the gate into the pen quickly, and woah, _hello_. 

The man was tall, easily over 6’2, if Bucky’s height radar was as on point as it usually was. He had sandy blonde hair that was currently being messed up further by the hand being run through it. He had on a purple shirt, words reading “Dogs rule, cats also rule, and they all drool sometimes” stretched tight across his upper body. Bucky watched his pecs shift as he lowered his hand, and swallowed. 

“Hey, all, I’m Clint,” the man said with a grin, laugh lines crinkling at the edge of his eyes. “And I’ll be your pet socialization specialist today. I’m joined as always by my good boy, Lucky.” He motioned at the dog with one hand as he took a seat in the final chair, directly across from Bucky. 

_I’d like to be your good boy,_ Bucky’s traitorous mind supplied. 

His eyes widened and he hastily said the first thing that popped into his mind to derail that train of thought, “You just left him here without you? What if something had happened?” Damnit, he really didn’t even care about this; _the man is basically an animal trainer, there’s no way his dog would’ve done anything wrong._

Clint continued to smile, clearly used to such questions, “No, nothing would happen. Me and Lucky have been doing this for a long time. He knows not to approach people or pets without me there.” 

“I guess you’d know,” Bucky said, uncomfortable after starting an argument he didn’t really mean to. He crossed his arms across his chest, and smiled weakly at Clint, who smiled back.

“Alright, let’s get started, people,” Clint clasped his hands in front of him and Bucky watched as the movement made his forearm muscles clench. “Since this is everyone’s first session, let me explain a little about how this is going to work. Lucky is an expert here; he gets along with everything and everyone. He is also really great about letting your pets come to him on their own time. He doesn’t spook, doesn’t bite, and even though he’s pretty big, most cats and dogs recognize him as a non-threat pretty quickly. Today we’ll start by letting each of your pets take turns off leash or out of carrier. Questions so far?” He looked up expectantly. 

Bucky mutely shook his head, entranced by the light-hearted smoothness of Clint’s voice, mind creating a multitude of questions that were probably not what Clint meant when he asked. _Um, can I have your number? Also, how do you feel about bossy boys in the bedroom? Thoughts on cuddling? Where do you see yourself in five years, and am I there next to you? Because okay, I accept._

One of the other people with a carrier asked something that Bucky completely missed. 

“No, Lucky lost that eye before I got him, and it was due to human cruelty, not another animal,” Clint said, brushing his hand affectionately across Lucky’s head. “You’ll find that with the proper care and socialization, most pets are much less likely to be violent than most people. 

_You’re absolutely right, people are the worst,_ Bucky confirmed internally, _and I’m kind of terrible, too, but maybe we could be good together._

“So let’s get going, who would like to go first?” Clint asked, glancing around the pen. 

Bucky spoke up, settling the carrier on the front of his knees, “We’ll go, this is Alpine, and I’m a good girl, just a little nervous.”

Flames immediately burst from the floor to consume him. 

Opening his eyes, he looked around to see that he had not, in fact, spontaneously combusted, but was, in fact, still in the pet store, surrounded by strangers, one who was particularly, undeniably attractive, and who would definitely, undeniably, not be interested in Bucky. 

“Sorry, I mean, Alpine is a good girl,” he grimaced, face burning. “She’s just a kitten, so I thought it’d be good to get her socialized young, when she’s impressionable. But she’s a kitten, so she’s also nervous, and young. But good! She’s good. We’re both good.” 

Clint grinned at him. 

Bucky didn’t dare look at the chihuahua lady or the man next to him. _Consume me, earth._

“Alright, great, thanks for volunteering. Let’s go ahead and put Alpine on the floor next to your chair, open up the door,” Clint gestured with his hands, sending another quick signal to Lucky. 

“Should I take you out? I mean, her out?” 

It was official, Bucky was going to cut out his tongue when he got home, or, alternatively, stitch his mouth shut like something out of those terrible Saw movies from the early 2000s. He definitely felt like he was trapped in a horror movie, though it might’ve been just a really terrible comedy instead.

A faint blush rose to Clint’s cheeks, though he kept a straight face as he waved his hand to stop Bucky, “No, let her come out on her own time. It’s important that your animals do things at their own comfort levels. We’ll see how far she gets in ten minutes. If she doesn’t leave the carrier today, that’s fine. If she gets all the way to Lucky, that’s great. No need to force it.” 

“Right, great, okay, no forcing. That’s fine, that’s good, great,” Bucky said, feeling perfectly articulate, impressive, and attractive. He opened the door to the crate, then stared at the ground. His hand jerked towards his pocket and phone, wanting desperately to text Nat that she better not eat his eggroll, as it was essential to his healing after this horrifically embarrassing experience. He restrained himself, if only just, because _I probably shouldn’t be on my phone, that’s something an irresponsible pet owner would do._

“There’s no need to put any pressure on this little lady, so while she’s deciding what she wants to do, why don’t the rest of you tell me about your pets?” Clint asked the group, hopefully looking away from Bucky, who wouldn’t know, as his eyes were still trained firmly to the ground. 

Bucky didn’t listen closely to what the other customers said, though he did pay close enough attention to find out that the cat in the other crate was named Fluffy, _because how much more cliché could you be_ , instead internally screaming at his impeccable ability to embarrass himself in front of attractive men. So focused he was on his mental anguish that he almost didn’t notice Alpine’s nose peek tentatively out of her crate, whiskers twitching as she checked out her surroundings. 

A paw emerged, halting Bucky’s desire for defenestration, _oh, you precious, brave girl!_ He watched as the paw was followed by Alpine’s head, then the rest of her body as she apparently decided that the world wasn’t scary enough for her to ignore potential freedom. She really, really didn’t like being in the carrier. 

Bucky saw the moment she noticed Lucky, her body freezing. She didn’t tense, and her tail flicked once, twice, before she moved forward. _Okay, casual, no big deal, glad to know life is great for YOU._

She crossed the pen with an easy nonchalance, winding under Bucky’s neighbor’s chair, then stepped daintily across Lucky’s extended front paws. Lucky didn’t move, chin flat on the ground, though his eyes tracked Alpine’s every step. She paused next to his side, then sat down on her haunches, and brought one of her pristine white paws up to wash. The pen was totally silent, save for the gentle rasp of her tongue. 

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Clint exhaled. 

Bucky just about burst with pride. 

“That’s my good fucking girl!” At Bucky’s praise, Alpine flicked her ears and stood up, walking away from Lucky to wind around the chairs on the other side of the pen. With jealous eyes, Bucky watched her rub up against Clint’s legs, squinting as Clint dropped a hand down to run along her back. _Would that I could trade places with you, Al, my girl_ , Bucky’s brain sighed. 

A soft timer went off, indicating that Alpine’s ten minutes were up. 

“Go ahead and get her back into her carrier, if you would,” Clint told Bucky. “You should be proud. It’s not often that unfamiliar animals react so well on their first time, especially cats.” He turned apologetically to the other people, “Please know that Alpine’s reaction was abnormal, and that you shouldn’t expect your own pets to do quite as well for their first time. These two set the bar kind of high.” 

He grinned, then winked at Bucky, who froze mid pick-up of his cat. _Was there an innuendo there? Surely not? Why did he wink, WHY DID HE WINK?_ He shook himself, then gathered Alpine into his arms, “Damn straight, Alpine, always have to show everyone up, you gorgeous, perfect feline specimen, you.” 

Clint chuckled, and Bucky ignored the eyerolls from his neighbor and chihuahua lady. 

Bucky sat and watched as the remaining pets had their turn at approaching Lucky, feeling an absurd sense of pride and accomplishment as both failed to get as close to the retriever as Alpine had. Clint maintained an easy conversation with the chihuahua owner, who was clearly nearly as nervous as her tiny trembling dog. Bucky listened in, appreciating Clint’s apparent skill at setting the woman’s nerves at ease. He didn’t add much to the conversation, though in his mind, a fantasy was growing about Clint setting Bucky’s nerves at ease, which turned rapidly into Clint making Bucky feel comfortable, appreciated, cared about. 

_Calm the fuck down, mind!_

When the session ended, Bucky beat a hasty retreat, ready to get the hell out of embarrassment central as soon as the session was over. 

Bucky made his way back to the cat toy aisle, grabbing the catnip stuffed toy and two feathered monstrosities before heading up to the cash register. “Toys for you, cold chow mien and vodka for me. These, small child of mine, are the necessities of life, and can heal all wounds,” he told Alpine, captive audience that she was. 

He turned the corner out of the aisle, and stopped abruptly, nearly running into a newly familiar purple shirt. He looked up, and found Clint smiling down at him. 

“So, Alpine did well today, didn’t she?” Clint asked, lowering his hands from where they hovered, ready to prevent Bucky from running into him. They were just close enough together that as his hands dropped, one brushed briefly against Bucky’s arm before knocking against Alpine’s carrier. 

“Yeah. But hey, did you leave Lucky on his own again?” Bucky accused, tempering his words with a grin. 

“Hey, if you don’t believe he’s well-trained after that session, I’m not sure what else I can do to convince you,” Clint grinned back at him. “She really did a great job, I wasn’t joking earlier.” 

“I know, she’s a boss-ass bitch like that.” 

“Do you think you’ll come to the session next week?” Clint asked. “There’s still more she can learn, and we’ll introduce multiple pets at that session.” 

“Don’t worry, we wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Bucky said, smiling up at him. His eye flickered to the top of Clint’s head, and he stepped closer, confirming his suspicions from earlier. Yep, Clint was definitely 6’2, maybe 6’3. He noted how his movement didn’t push Clint back, and smirked, “I’m not sure that she’s proven how good she can be yet.” 

_Okay hey, confidence, nice to see you’ve joined the party._

“I’m sure there’s more to see, for sure,” Clint responded, his blush from earlier slowly beginning to rise to his cheeks again. “Actually, speaking of seeing things, I wouldn’t mind seeing you again.” 

Bucky’s heart thumped in his chest, not quite able to believe his luck, and he wrinkled his nose as he said “I did just say I’m planning on coming back next week. Like I literally just said that 10 seconds ago.” 

Clint’s blush grew, his smile turning wry, “Right, to clarify then, I’d like to see you again, not here, not at next week’s session, and maybe not with our pets.” 

“Kind of hard to socialize my cat if she’s not with me, isn’t it?” Bucky tilted his head, putting on a false air of confusion, belied by the dancing of his eyes. 

Clint’s eyebrows shot up, and he laughed, whole-bodied, shaking his head. Bucky couldn’t keep his façade, and he laughed in response. 

Clint’s laughter petered out, and he smiled down warmly at Bucky again, “Alright then, owner of Alpine, who’s name I still haven’t gotten, I’d like to see you after today, as in just you and me, as in a date. Is that clear enough?” 

_A date!_ Bucky’s mind, so recently pummeled by embarrassment, was now doing cartwheels, frolicking in a field of daises. 

“Yeah, that’s perfectly clear. And I’m Bucky. Figured you should know that so you know what to put in your phone when I give you my number.”

Clint chuckled again, then pulled out his phone, dutifully taking down Bucky’s contact information. He typed something quickly, and Bucky’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He’d check it later, when pulling his phone out didn’t mean taking his hands off of Alpine’s carrier, which would’ve exposed them as the shaking mess they were. 

“I’ve got to go, cold Chinese food is waiting for me,” Bucky said, shifting slightly, “but I’ll be in touch.” 

“Nothing like soggy egg rolls and limp noodles,” Clint said, “Maybe we could share that sometime.” 

_As there aren’t too many other limp things around the next time I see you_ , Bucky’s brain to mouth filter caught, if only barely. “Yeah, or cold pizza works, too. Screw eating food at regular temperatures.” 

“Be still my heart, if I didn’t have another session in a few minutes, I’d follow you out of the door right now,” Clint said with reverence. He shuffled back, saying, “But anyway, I’ll let you go. Talk soon?” His voice was hopeful. 

“Definitely,” Bucky confirmed, unable to keep his smile from spreading across his face. _God, I have no chill._

“Okay. Okay, great, good,” Clint walked away, glancing back one more time over his expansive shoulders. Bucky watched him walk away, mind slowly melting into joyful disbelief. He blinked rapidly, then glanced down at Alpine. 

“Did that really just fucking happen?” 

Alpine’s ears twitched, which Bucky took as exuberant confirmation.

He floated to the front of the store, toys and perfect cat in hard. He didn’t even mind interacting with the cashier when he left, ignoring how she somehow managed to call Alpine snookums, sugar bun, and cutie-patootie in the space of their two minute transaction. 

When he got to his car, he remembered to pull out his phone. A text from an unknown number sat on his screen: 

_[This is clint. Looking forward to the paws-ibility of hearing from you again, Bucky.]_

Away from an audience, Bucky let his grin bloom unfiltered on his face. God, that was awful. He shot back a reply. 

_**[That was pawsitively pawful. But maybe also a little purrfect.]** _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is the first fic (or piece of creative writing) I've written since, um, 2005 when I was a literal child, so please I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback!! :) 
> 
> 10 days till Nanowrimo, which will consume my every ounce of creativity, hooray!


End file.
